Left-lane law may not be worth the trouble

EACH year, there are any number of laws enacted that appear a “solution” in search of a problem. Oklahoma’s left-lane law falls into that category for many citizens, and that perception is given some validation by the fact lawmakers have already revised it.

In 2017, lawmakers made it illegal for drivers to be in the left lane of a four-way highway unless the driver is passing another vehicle. This was something long observed in practice but not previously subject to a fine when someone stayed in the left lane too long.

It was never clear that there was a pressing need for the law. During debate, Rep. Meloyde Blancett, D-Tulsa, was a voice of reason, saying, “I don’t get the logic of putting everyone in one lane of traffic.” Blancett noted that in her trips from Tulsa to Oklahoma City “most people move out of your way.”

“Why do we need a law? Call me crazy,” she said. “People get irritated with you if you’re in the left lane. That’s a social consequence. I’m not really sure that oftentimes there should be a legislative consequence to everything.”

At the time, many questioned how the law was supposed to work in practice when there is congestion on a highway, which is routine. If you pull into the left lane to pass a slower-moving vehicle but cannot immediately pull back into the right lane, are you subject to a fine?

When the law took effect in November 2017, the number of citations issued during the first few months of enforcement suggested left-lane drivers were not quite the societal plague some had suggested. Just 60 people were given fines for driving in the left lane in the first three months after the law took effect. Of those, 14 tickets were issued in Carter County. And all but one of those 14 were issued by the same trooper.

In Oklahoma County, home to more than 787,000 people, only 12 tickets were issued in those three months. Only eight drivers on Interstate 44 from Oklahoma to Tulsa counties were cited.

This year, lawmakers decided the law needed to be clarified. Under that legislation, which took effect this month, driving in the left lane is not prohibited within the city limits of a municipality unless the roadway is part of the interstate highway system.

This means you should stay in the right lane, unless you’re driving through town, unless you’re driving through town on an interstate. Got that? And if you’re in Carter County, you should definitely stay in the right lane, unless you’re privy to the work schedule of one specific trooper, in which case there are times left-lane travel isn’t such a big deal. And throughout much of the rest of the state, odds are that if you drive the way you did before passage of the left-lane law you won’t get a ticket.

Critics of this law worried it was too vague, which ensures drivers cannot be certain when they are complying and that enforcement will be inconsistent or even haphazard. When a law creates that kind of uncertainty and inconsistency, it’s worth asking if the law is serving its purpose.